Bass rod

[Philly 0]

Back to bass rods. Usually either a 5 or 6 wgt. On my local creek where the smallies and largemouth are mostly in the 10 to 12 inch range I use the 5 wgt though I did land one smallie just under 17 inches several years ago on it. On lakes and larger rivers or when I head up to Northern Ontario where there's a good chance I can land a bass in the 18 to 22 inch range I use my 6 wgt. On the 5 wgt I'll use a straight leader between 10 and 14 #. With the 6 wgt 14 to 25 # depending where I'm fishing and, especially if there are toothy critters sharing the lake.

[phg 0]

Well, back in the '50's, my dad always used a 9' 7wt H-I bamboo rod, with a Utica automatic reel, for small mouth.

 

Me personally, I favor a 9' 6wt. A 20" fish will give it a good workout, but they are few and far between. For typical small mouth, the 6wt. is fine, and it doesn't over power (as much) the smaller fish that are always part of the day's catch.

[Moshup 0]

I'm very happy with my 9 ft 7 wgt. Handles all situations and can throw a big fly when needed. Also can be used for some backwater salt .

[islander727 0]

On the smaller waters I fish, I use a 1, 2, and coming soon, a 3. When fishing larger water, I'll use a 5.

[fishinguy 0]

I use a 9 or 10 ft 7wt depending on where I'm fishing if I'm targeting bass specifically. The 10 footer gets the nod when I know I won't have much back cast room and I'll be doing allot of roll casting. If your not planning on throwing flies over 5' or super heavily weighted stuff all the time, 6 or 7wt would be my suggestion.

[Striperknight 0]

I use a sage VPS 9 ft 8wt for my LMB rod. I can toss a big bass bug or popper with ease.

[Gene L 0]

I used a 5wt for years and caught some great fish on it. I now use a 6wt because it handles a bigger streamer better. A 7 would do great, too. I don't have an 8 but that would work good too.

 

I mostly fish bass from a canoe and casts are pretty close.

 

I think it would be hard to over-rod a bass rod, but I wouldn't buy a rod specifically for bass. and a lot of my fishing is for bass.

[Adam Saarinen 0]

Sage X! You only live once! Go for it if she'll let you!?!

[retrocarp 0]

Three weight is a lot of fun when fishing for aussie bass ( tough and dirty little suckers ) lol

I just use a 6lb leader straight to the fly. LOOKOUT !!!!

[Dave G. 0]

Well St Croix must think that 7,8 and 9 weight are all suitable because their bass series fly rods are in those weights. They are also built on the shorter side at about 8'.. They advertise their Mojo Bass rods as built with the right tapers and from correct material to handle bass and bass flies well.

 

I tend to use an 8 wt. rod when I deliberately go bass fishing but mostly because some of the best bass ponds around here have heavy weed covered bottoms. I've managed to build a couple of fly patterns that are fairly large but not too wind resistant so I may try my old St Croix Imperial 6/7 wt in 8'6" this year. But I've caught bass on every fly rod I own I think, from my 3/4 stream rod to my T&T 8 wt. I have for estuary stripers. For the last two years I've been using a 7/8 Steelie rod, it really chucks the flies out there with an 8 wt line on it, but I boat fish for bass so I don't need that really..

[Brodrash 0]

I've done all my bass fishing with a 5 wt and have yet to meet a fish that it can't handle and I have caught some decent bass. Now I have found a few flies that it can't/shouldn't handle but the 5wt is the largest rod I own. This is where the casting technique of chuck N duck comes in handy!

[vicente 0]

Well St Croix must think that 7,8 and 9 weight are all suitable because their bass series fly rods are in those weights. They are also built on the shorter side at about 8'.. They advertise their Mojo Bass rods as built with the right tapers and from correct material to handle bass and bass flies well.

They make them 8 ft so they will be tournament legal, not because it works better though a shorter rod be be easier to use if you are on a nice bass boat and it's ready easy to stand up.

[JSzymczyk 0]

 

Well St Croix must think that 7,8 and 9 weight are all suitable because their bass series fly rods are in those weights. They are also built on the shorter side at about 8'.. They advertise their Mojo Bass rods as built with the right tapers and from correct material to handle bass and bass flies well.

They make them 8 ft so they will be tournament legal, not because it works better though a shorter rod be be easier to use if you are on a nice bass boat and it's ready easy to stand up.

 

 

Show me the last time any known "bass tournament" was won by a fly fisherman. That "tournament legal" 8 foot length thing is one of the biggest loads of bullsh*t in marketing, and fly fishing has a LOT of bullsh*t marketing.

[Bimini15 0]

For some time there was a push for those short rods in inshore fly fishing as well.

[sarcasm]You had to have one to fish in tight quarters around mangroves or fish just would not bite[/sarcasm]

[vicente 0]

Oh yea it's total bs but that is the reason for it just a marketing ploy, but you hadn't to have some kinda gimmicky reason to sell a bass specific rod since any moderately fast 9 or 10 ft rod will do the same thing.